Athletics: Teenager’s too fast for Campbell May 8 2006
South Wales Echo
Former Olympic 200metres silver medallist Darren Campbell has insisted he is on course for his third successive European Championships despite being upstaged by two young sprinters at the first meeting of the £25,000 UK Challenge series.
Campbell, 32, who won gold and bronze medals at the last two European Championships, was pushed into second place by his 23-year-old training partner, Uwic student Tim Abeyie, in the British League Premiership at Barnet.
And then his time of 10.73seconds was eclipsed when 17-year-old Gerald Phiri (Sheffield) clocked 10.58secs to win the League One sprint.
Campbell put his sluggishness down to ‘a terrible start’ and said: 'I just need races. The Commonwealth Games showed I’m rusty. I’m racing in Qatar next week and possibly Loughborough the following week.
'I’m going back to the old ways. I’m going to race, race, race. I’m not afraid of competition - and it helps to come to domestic meetings. I get more scared coming to race here than I do racing against the big boys in front of thousands of spectators.
‘All week I’ve been ahead of Tim, but this is the hardest place to come and race.’
Oh i think his times will drop. I have seen pro’s run 10.6-10.8 at the start of the season then start dropping to 10.2-10.00
Results from fla twilight meet this pass weekend. Check mark lewis and Karrem street thompson.
Men 100 Meter Dash
i mean you guys cant be to quick to judge, you dont know all the factors, many things can be going wrong. I mean he said he had a bad start that means he could have triped but kept going, so i mean dont be to quick to cast an opinion on a proven sprinter. And to Quickashell, not doing any speed work or any power lifting can have a big effect on how fast you are, i know guys personally who did do any speed work in indoor going only 6.8’s but started weights and speed and now are doing 10.2-3’s so it is a very good exscuse.
No I am not quick to judge but being a fan of the sport and have followed it for more than 40 years, I am just sick of GB athletes that talk a lot and dont deliver. Yes you might argue that he has medalled on the world stage but I remember watching him at the WJC in Seoul in 1992 when he ran 10.3 and 20.6. Its being a shame that he has not just broken 10 but has under achieved Big time. All I have to say is compare him to BOLDON who beat him that year…
AND
Quickashell is right,
It is naff to say" I have not done any speed work". This guys are sprinters and they should be able to sprint quick all year round. If there is one thing this forum stands for Its sprinters being sprinters not snails…
An yes a 6.8 man should be able to run 10.3. Carl Lewis ran quick off a PB of 6.60.
It all depends on the type of training and the physical make up of the athletes…
Oh dear, but lets wait and see. Personally if you are running fast in training you should be able to open at least at 95%. This time falls within that bracket and could have been affected by wind etc. Still it is unfortunite.
Maybe he just doesn’t know any better (not everyone comes to this sight) or maybe he’s just too stubborn to change. Anyway, even elite sprinters have bad days, I think in Speed Trap Charlie mentioned that Ben ran a 10.4 or 10.5 once in Europe after a particularly hard competition schedule and poor conditions. I see your point though, Britain’s track and field performances have been in decline for years (kind of like Canada’s!).
By the way, I am sure Carl could have run faster than 6.60 if he had put his mind to it.
O that sucks what do you think needs to be done as far as the mentality of track, do you feel like more interest needs to be generated towards the sport or what?
I think the interest is there because the Grand Prix meets that are held in this country usually sell out months in advance. I believe the Crystal Palace GP in Londin has already sold out and it’s not for another 3 months yet!
For me, the problem lies with the sprinters themselves. They appear to be content to be the best in the UK, and that apparantley gives them this god given right to be the best in the world! MLF is testament to this, I mean since coming up from being a world class world beating junior, what has he achieved since joining the senior ranks?? I think we all know the answer to this question…
There are some good juniors in Gerald Phiri, Craig Pickering and Simeon Williamson coming through, but I fear that they will end up being like MLF because they’re the best in this country they will assume they’re the best in the world but this clearly is no longer the case. As soon as we can change their attitudes then we may see British sprinters on top of the world again but I can’t see that happening for a while…
